Skip to content

Lawyers 2, Litigants 0

There is a saying around courtrooms that once you’ve gone to see a lawyer, you’ve already lost. Neither William Simpson of the Portland-based Holland 70 Iron Maiden nor Richard Spindler, publisher of Latitude 38, will argue with that.

Following the ’09 Ha-Ha, there was a contretemps between Capt Simpson and Mr. Spindler over a letter to the editor and the editor’s response to the letter that appeared in the December ’09 issue of Latitude. The details and subject of the letter aren’t really important. What’s important, and unfortunate, is that it led to a legal battle that — as is the case with so many legal battles — took on a life of its own, and ended up with both litigants losing badly. Both Simpson and Spindler can assure all readers that although the financial costs of such legal battles are very dear, the emotional costs are even higher.

Having called for a break in the legal scrum that was taking place in the luxurious Lincoln Room on the 20th floor of the ‘Big Pink’ in Portland, Simpson and Spindler slipped off to a side office without the lawyers present, and spending face-to-face time together for the first time, agreed that contrary to all rumors, both were pretty good guys after all. With the issue soon resolved, both Simpson and Spindler are looking to wiser and happier futures. Capt Simpson and his wife Laura are hoping to return to the Sea of Cortez, while Mr. Spindler is looking forward to spending January sailing in Southeast Asia instead of sitting in a Marin courtroom. Both parties hope they each will be re-embraced by the cruising community.

Capt Simpson (left) of Iron Maiden and Latitude’s Publisher Richard Spindler are happy to have settled their differences.

© 2012

If there’s one good thing that can come out of this, it’s that all of you readers can learn from our mistakes of failing to communicate with each other, being hard-headed, not settling differences before they got out of hand, and failing to listen to gossip and rumors without the proper amount of skepticism.

(— signed Capt Bill and Richard 7/31/12)

Leave a Comment




After being treated like royalty at Sugar Barge on Bethel Island for two nights, participants in the Delta Doo Dah rally had a hard time believing they’d receive as warm a welcome somewhere else.
Drop everything! The new edition of Latitude 38 just hit the streets! © If it feels like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, we can’t solve your problems for you, but we can prescribe a temporary distraction.